by M C Beaton
He let himself into the police station. He wished he could confide in someone, share the burden. But even if Priscilla should suddenly arrive back from London, he knew he could not even tell her.
He began to pack his one and only good suit and his few respectable shirts. He also packed several paperbacks. There might be long periods of waiting. He wondered about Olivia. Was she married? She must be tough and competent to have reached the rank of detective inspector.
The police station was so comfortable, so familiar, so safe. It was tempting to manufacture some illness and beg off the job. With a sigh, he finished his packing, carried the suitcase out to the police Land Rover. He would drive it to headquarters, leave it there and walk along to his new address.
He drove to the doctor's and told Angela he was going to visit his parents in Rogart and stay with them for a bit. To his embarrassment, Angela made him wait while she took a cake out of the oven, let it cool and then boxed it up. "Its lemon sponge," said Angela. "A present for your mother. Let me know how she likes it."
Feeling guilty, Hamish took the cake and said his farewells.
Some time later, Olivia opened the door to him. Their "new home" was a bungalow furnished in dreadful taste: fake log fire, velvet three-piece suite, noisy wallpaper, horrible oil paintings of hills and glens, glass coffee table and a giant television set.
"Who usually lives here?" asked Hamish, putting down his suitcase and placing the cake box on the coffee table.
"Some friend of Superintendent Peter Daviot who's letting us have the use of it. You brought cake?"
"Aye, one of my friends thought I was going to see my mother and gave me a cake for her."
"We may as well have some. I'll make some tea. Your bedroom's second on the right down the corridor. Put your things away."
She was wearing a shirt blouse tied at the waist and jeans. They should have put a man on the job, thought Hamish. It didn't matter how liberated the decade, women aroused protective feelings which could get in the way.
When he had put his things away, he returned to the living room. The sponge was on a plate with the tea things on the table.
"Your friend's sponge seems to have fallen in the middle," said Olivia.
"Oh, well, that's Angela," said Hamish. "Heart of gold and the worst baking in the Highlands."
"Maybe if we eat the outside and leave the soggy bit in the middle, it'll be all right."
But it tasted as bad as it looked. Angela had used so much lemon and so little sugar that the sponge actually tasted sour.
"Don't let's bother with it," said Olivia. "Let's get down to business. You are a headman for Jimmy White's syndicate in Glasgow. You want to do business in the Highlands."
"And what do the Highland lot think of that?"
"We'll find out. According to DC Sanders, who will be joining us shortly, they are a small outfit suddenly getting larger. Somehow, they are getting shipments of drugs into the country, undetected. Our job is to somehow find out where on the coast the supplies are coming in. Glasgow CID recently seized two shiploads so it's feasible that someone from Glasgow would come up here to purchase drugs."
"Fifty thousand pounds is not going to impress them."
"They're still not that large an outfit." The doorbell rang. "That'll be Sanders," she said, going to answer it.
DC Sanders came in, looking more like a picture on a cornflakes packet than ever.
"Sit down, Sanders," said Olivia. "Tea?"
"Yes, milk and two sugars, please."
"Help yourself," said Olivia curtly, as if to say it was not a senior officer's job to pour tea just because that senior officer happened to be a woman.
"Tell Hamish what you know about the drug situation in Strathbane," she commanded. "I am getting in the way of calling him Hamish because we need to pose as man and wife."
"It's like this," said Sanders. "We raided houses and arrested pushers. The pushers are usually small fry who are on drugs themselves. Through them we sometimes get one of the middlemen but never anyone at the top. Lachie's has been raided several times. We found some of the young people with ecstasy tablets but that was all."
"What about Lachie's? Who owns it?"
"John Lachie. Up from Glasgow. Opened the disco a year ago," said Sanders.
"Any record?"
"Early record. Robbery with violence. Did a stretch in Barlinnie Prison. That was ten years ago. Nothing since then."
"What sort of man is he?" asked Hamish.
"Middle-aged, likes the high life, flashy car, flashy clothes. His disco's very popular. Young people come from all over the Highlands. There's not much else for them. If Lachie's the kingpin, then it's Lachie you'll meet tomorrow night. Could be someone else we don't know about."
"What if Lachie gets onto Jimmy White?" asked Hamish uneasily. "What if Jimmy White says he's neffer heard of me?"
"That's something we will deal with when the time comes," said Olivia briskly. "You will be issued with a gadget with an alarm button. You just press it and the place will immediately be flooded with police."
"Meaning they will be on standby in the streets round about?"
"Yes," said Sanders.
"I don't like it," said Hamish.
"Why?" demanded Olivia.
"If they are dealing in hard drugs, they will be alert to any sign of police surveillance."
"The men will be in plain clothes," said Olivia testily.
"I can tell a Strathbane copper a mile off," said Hamish, "and I'm sure they can, too."
Olivia looked at him impatiently. "Then what do you suggest?"
"I suggest we take our chances. Headquarters isn't far from Lachie's. Why can't they wait there?"
"I'll see what I can do," said Olivia uneasily, thinking of Superintendent Daviot's enthusiasm and of the maps he had pinned up on his office wall, of the fun he had had briefing the "troops" personally. "Wait here."
She went off into her bedroom and then they could hear her voice as she spoke into her mobile phone.
"Grand cake," said Sanders, eating busily.
"Have all you like," said Hamish, thinking the man must have a cast-iron stomach.
"Quite a looker," said Sanders.
"Olivia? She makes me uneasy," said Hamish. "They should have put a man on this job."
"She's not a token woman appointment," said Sanders. "She's got a reputation of being clever and tough."
"Is herself married?"
"No, and don't get any ideas. Some detective came on to her in Glasgow and she poured boiling coffee on him where it would hurt the most."
"She is safe from me," said Hamish. "I tell you this, it is the long time since I've fancied any woman."
"Wait to you see some of the nymphets at Lachie's."
"I am not the baby-snatcher either."
"Hamish Macbeth, I think you're a puritan."
"How is he a puritan?" asked Olivia, coming into the room.
"He doesn't fancy the lassies."
"Are you gay?" asked Olivia.
"No, I am not," said Hamish. "I am chust that wee bit disenchanted with women. What did headquarters say?"
"They're thinking about it. You know what the trouble is? There's just too many cop shows on television and Strathbane at the moment seems to be a case of life determined to imitate art. They swear no one will be able to detect their men."
"Oh, aye," remarked Hamish cynically. "I'll bet they haff the street sweeper in sort of clean-dirty clothes out on the streets when every other street sweeper has packed it in for the day. Then there will be the ice cream van that doesn't sell ice cream. Oh, and what about the window cleaner cleaning windows in the dark? And the courting couple."
"They're looking into it," said Olivia curtly. "We're going ahead with this because you got us into it in the first place. I hope you are not to go on showing a lack of enthusiasm."
"He's got a point, ma'am," said Sanders uneasily.
"As I said, they are looking into it."
"The monster," said Hamish suddenly. "The monster in Loch Drim."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Olivia.
He told them about Ailsa thinking she had seen a monster. "It could have been the light from a boat," he said. "Or they could have rigged up something to frighten the locals and keep them away."
Olivia sat frowning in silence. Then she said, "We're doing nothing this evening. We may as well drive over and have a look."
"I'm on duty, ma'am," said Sanders. "Will I be expected to come with you?"
"No, that won't be necessary. We'll just have a recce."
After Sanders had left, carrying the remains of the cake, Olivia made omelettes for them. After Hamish had washed up the dishes, she said, "We'd better put on some dark clothes. You know the villagers there, don't you?"
"Yes, Drim is on my beat."
"How will you explain me?"
"Monster fanatic. There's a lot of them around."
They set out an hour later, Olivia driving. "You know," she said, "I've never, ever been this far north in Scotland before."
"No Highland holidays?"
"You know how it is, everyone goes abroad these days. Why spend a holiday in the Highlands of Scotland getting soaked to the skin when you can bask in the sunshine in Spain?"
"It's good for the complexion," said Hamish. "Just think of the damage the sun does to your skin."
"And just think of the damage cold, wet weather does to your temper."
"Aye, you could be right."
"Tell me, Hamish, you seem to be an intelligent if unorthodox officer, and yet you're still only a policeman. Why is that?"
"I'm considered too much of a loose cannon for promotion. Besides, you've seen a wee bit of Strathbane. Would you like to work there?"
"It's not very different from Glasgow. Aren't you ambitious?"
"Not at all."
"That's very odd."
"I suppose it is, but it makes for a contented life. I love Lochdubh."
"What's so special about the place?"
"It's easygoing, the people are friendly, I've got my bit of croft at the back of the police station. It's beautiful everywhere you look. If I moved to Strathbane, I'd be old before my time. I don't have to deal with any bad crime-well, not lately. The odd burglary, boundary disputes, sheep-dip papers, things like that."
"Don't you get bored?"
"Hardly ever."
"You're not married."
"No," said Hamish flatly.
"Which way now?"
"The signpost to Drim is just coming up. Make a left round the next bend."
They made their way down the one-track winding road which led to Drim. Olivia could just make out the gleam of the sea loch. The wind had died down and everything was very still. A few lights twinkled in the cottages.
Because of the towering mountains above Drim and on either side of the loch, Olivia felt they were sinking down into complete blackness.
"Just stop the car outside the stores there," said Hamish. "We'll get out and walk."
"I don't much like the atmosphere of this place," said Olivia with a shiver. "At least no one is about to see us."
"Oh, they've seen us all right," said Hamish. "Every curtain in the village will have been twitching."
"So why doesn't someone come out and ask us what we are doing?"
"That's not their way. They prefer to speculate. Much more fun. The path is along here. We'd better switch on our torches. As we get near the sea, we'll switch them off. The mountains fall back there, and there'll be enough light from the sky. I suggest we don't talk anymore. Sound carries a long way up here."
He took out a black woollen hat and pulled it over his hair. "Just in case we meet someone who shouldn't be here, my hair shines out like a beacon."
After some time, they heard the sound of the sea and switched off their torches.
"All quiet," whispered Olivia.
"Get down and don't make a sound," Hamish hissed suddenly.
"What…?"
"I sense something."
Hamish pulled up a clump of heather from the side of the path. "Take some of the dirt and black your face."
They smeared their faces and then waited in silence. Olivia began to relax. Hamish was a nice fellow but she was beginning to think he was eccentric, maybe a bit touched in the head.
She was just about to press his arm, to say something, when two great green eyes glared at them out of the blackness. "Don't move," urged Hamish. The eyes came closer. They were attached to a small head and long prehistoric neck. In the faint starlight, they could make out the coils of a serpentine body.
They waited. Olivia could feel cold sweat breaking out on her face. Then the creature turned and disappeared around the bend to the sea. Olivia tried to rise to her feet but Hamish grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down. "Wait!"
They waited for what seemed to Olivia like an age. Then Hamish rose and pulled her up and said, "Come on. Let's see who's playing tricks."
"We're unarmed and I don't have the thing with the panic button with me," muttered Olivia. "We're not in a position to confront drug smugglers."
"I haff this feeling it is not the smugglers. Let's see."
They walked quietly to the end of the loch. The sound of the sea was very loud now and would, Hamish hoped, drown any sounds of their approach.
"A cave. There must be a cave around here."
His keen eyes scanned the steep rocks on either side of the entrance to the loch. "Over there," he whispered. "Do you see that dark cleft? I bet it's there. Over on the other side."
"How do we get over there?"
"We swim. You can swim?"
"Yes, but…"
"And you'd best keep close to me. The current can be strong."
Olivia thought miserably as she entered the loch after Hamish that it must be the coldest water in the world. She was a strong swimmer but found she had to use every ounce of energy to battle with the current. Hamish reached down and pulled her up on the other side.
Together they approached the entrance to the cave. "Just leave the thing to deflate," said a voice. Jock Kennedy, thought Hamish. The bastard!
"Come on," he said to Olivia. "It isn't the drug smugglers."
He strode into the cave. By the light of the hurricane lamp he saw Jock Kennedy and two men. The rubber neck of the monster was making a hissing sound as it deflated.
"Whit's the meaning of this, Jock?" demanded Hamish sternly.
"Och, it's yourself," said Jock in a disgusted voice. "I thought I had frightened you off"
"What the hell were you up to?"
"Trade at the shop has been that slack. I thought if I had a monster and spread stories that the folks would come. You know what they're like in Drim, Hamish. They're aye putting the tourists off. I thought a monster would draw folks."
"But you told me not to encourage Ailsa in thinking she had seen a monster."
"Aye, but I didn't want you to take it seriously or I know you would start poking your nose in."
"How did you know we were on our way?"
Jock held up a mobile phone. "We just happened to be along here putting more finishing touches."
"Finishing is the word," said Hamish bitterly. "Get rid of that damn thing and, instead, try to get the villagers to be nice to strangers. How did you get over here?"
"There's a track a bit up the mountain on this side."
Olivia found her voice. "Book him," she said savagely.
"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary," he said soothingly. "Jock won't be pulling that trick again."
"Outside, Macbeth," snapped Olivia.
He followed her out. "You cannot be calling me Macbeth and giving me orders in front of the locals," he chided, "or they will guess you are a senior officer, and gossip spreads like wildfire in the Highlands. It wass only a pra
nk and we've got more important work to do than charge Jock Kennedy. Surely the drug job is too important."
"Just get me out of here," she shouted.
Hamish went back into the cave. "You'd best lead us back, Jock."
"Who is the lady?"
"Some monster hunter like they get up in Loch Ness. And she's really sore with you."
"Sorry," mumbled Jock. "But it was the grand monster."
They silently followed him up the mountain and along a rocky track, broken in places by falls of scree.
Then they walked around the end of the loch to where Olivia's car was parked.
"Come in and dry yourselves and have a dram," said Jock.
"That would be grand," started Hamish, but Olivia said furiously, "Just get in the car. We are leaving… now"
"Very good," said Hamish meekly.
CHAPTER FIVE
What a lass that were to go a~gypseying through the world with.
– Charles Lamb
"Don't say anything at all," she snapped as she drove towards Strathbane. "I will speak to you when I am dry."
When they arrived at the bungalow, Hamish followed her meekly in. "I will use the bathroom first," she said.
He went into the living room and switched on the electric heater and stood shivering in front of it.
At last she reappeared, dressed in a high-necked nightgown under a camel-hair man's dressing gown. "Your turn," she said.
He went off to the bathroom, stripped off, had a hot bath and, wrapping a large bath sheet about him, went to his bedroom and put on pyjamas and a dressing gown.
He went reluctantly back to the living room.
"Sit down, Macbeth," she ordered.
He sat down.
"Now, let us go through that fiasco. First of all, you seemed to have forgotten I am your superior and gave me orders. You did not book those cheats either."
"I had to tell you what to do," said Hamish mildly, "because I know the territory. There are things in the Highlands it iss better for a policeman to sort out without dragging people off to the courts. Think of the public expense of taking Jock to court and then it would come up who we are and what we were doing there and we cannae have that."
